WATCH: Ben Duckett joins Champions Trophy century bandwagon against Australia in Lahore

English opener Ben Duckett scored his third ODI century in the Champions Trophy match versus Australia. This was also Duckett’s second ton in an ODI match against the Aussies. The left-handed batter got to his three-figure mark with a boundary in the fifth ball of the 32nd over off Spencer Johnson. 

This is the fifth century in the ongoing tournament to set the tone for what is expected to be an amazing few weeks of cricket. Will Young and Tom Latham scored the first two centuries of the tournament. Shubman Gill and Ryan Rickelton then scored centuries in their respective matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 

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Ben Duckett scores a century in his champions trophy debut..#AUSvENG#INDvPAK#ChampionsTrophy2025pic.twitter.com/9t44IhJ3WY

— ni8hin 💫 (@ni8hin) February 22, 2025

Earlier in the day, Steve Smith called the toss right and asked England to bat first. England lost opener Phil Salt early for ten runs when Alex Carey took a brilliant catch off Ben Dwarshuis. The same bowler and fielder combination struck again to get rid of number three batter Jamie Smith for 15 runs off 13 balls with three hits to the fence. 

Joe Root and Ben Duckett post huge stand to frustrate Australia

At 43/2, former England skipper Joe Root walked into bat at number 4 and joined opener Duckett in the middle. The pair added 158 runs for the third wicket in 154 balls and kept putting pressure on the Aussie bowlers. Despite the fall of two early wickets, Root and Duckett didn’t hold back from playing their shots.

Duckett was the first to reach his fifty off just 49 balls; England scored their 100 within 15 overs to score at a steady rate. Duckett showed his intent as he used his feet well against the spinners and hit Maxwell for a huge six straight down the ground. Steve Smith even got Marnus Labuschagne onto bowl without much effect. 

Joe Root then reached his fifty from 56 balls with the help of three boundaries. The stand was finally broken when Adam Zampa hit Root on the pads, who was looking to sweep the ball. The umpire contemplated for a while and lifted his finger as Root opted to use the DRS. The TV umpire saw the wickets hitting was the umpire’s call, which helped Australia get their third wicket.